US artificially created crisis in Venezuela, Valentina Matviyenko said

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Russia will make every effort to prevent military intervention in Venezuela, Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told a meeting with Venezuela’s Executive Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez, who is paying a working visit to Moscow.

"We are very afraid that the United States may stage any provocations to provoke bloodshed and find a reason and pretext for intervention in Venezuela. But we will do our utmost to prevent this," Matviyenko said.

Russia is absolutely against any external meddling the affairs of sovereign independent states, she stressed.

"I’m sure that you were able to see that Russia feels sympathy with what is happening in Venezuela and solidarity with the people of Venezuela and supports the legitimate government in its fight for sovereignty and the country’s independence," Matviyenko told Rodriguez.

Russia believes that the crisis in Venezuela was artificially created by the United States’ authorities and it can be solved only through dialogue involving all the country’s political forces, Matviyenko said

"We are absolutely sure that the crisis, which was artificially created by the US in Venezuela, can be solved only by peaceful means and only in the framework of the inclusive dialogue of all political forces and the Venezuela people have the right to decide on its present and its future," she said.

On January 23, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas.

Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. On February 4, most of the European Union member states recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro, while China called for resolving all differences peacefully and warned against foreign interference. The United Nations secretary general, in turn, called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.